ROUND 15 of Southern Ports tennis was set to be a real entertainer and it delivered the goods.
The ever competitive Robe Roosters inflicted Naracoorte’s first loss for the season to keep their chances alive for a top division finals berth.
With a 12-sets-all result, it came down to games, with Robe up by 11.
The other close match for the day was the Lucindale Koalas and Lucindale Wombats who are fighting for a top division spot.
The Koalas gained an early lead and hung on to claim the win 14 sets to 10.
Millicent/Beachport had a surprisingly easy win to cement the sixth spot over an undermanned Kingston side, while the Francis/Lucindale Eagles also had an easy win to keep them in the hunt for a top division spot.
With ideal weather conditions, the Roosters had a big job ahead to win over the undefeated Naracoorte side on their home courts.
Heading into the last doubles the Roosters dug deep winning four out of six.
Despite Tim Malone and Mike Wilhelm up 8-6, they lost a tiebreaker to Sid Malone and Steve Biggins.
The Roosters fought back with a big win from Lisa Hall and Courtney Drabsch over Katelyn Baker and Sonya White to take the day down to the last set.
As the clock struck 6:49pm Emma Vasek and Michelle Smith claimed an exciting tiebreaker to secure the Roosters a win and keep their finals hopes alive.
The entertainment continued at Lucindale.
The Wombats had taken over the Koalas number two spot on the ladder last week, to add to the drama of the day.
The Koalas came out firing to win all six of the mixed doubles but the Wombats bounced back in the singles winning all but one of the women’s matches.
The singles match of the day played out between Brad Hocking and Chandler Smart, who although both said they did not play their best, still managed to end up in a tie-break with Hocking getting the win.
Koalas brought it home in the doubles, winning four of the six men’s and ladies games to ice the contest.
Furner/Beachport hosted the Kingston Crays this week at Beachport and to start the day off, the home side claimed four of the mixed doubles.
Strong wins by Em Chambers over Erika Watson (6-2), Nat Chambers over Laura Baker (6-0) and Emma Lang over Tiana Murdoch (6-0) placed Beachport in a favourable position heading into the doubles, where they continued on and claimed the comfortable win.
The hard courts certainly appear to be the preferred surface for the Frances/Lucindale Eagles, who claimed a convincing win over the Robe Rebels 16 sets 130 games to 8 sets 89 games.
It was their second win in a row and they now face the benchmark in Naracoorte.
The competition now heads into the final minor round, with teams looking to cement their places for the three divisions to play finals.
The Eagles will have the toughest task against Naracoorte, with the latter to claim the points, while the Koalas will play the Robe Rebels, with the Koalas set to record a comfortablevictory.
The Lucindale Wombats can sit back and relax this week with a forfeit win to put them at the top of the race for the top division spot.
The toughest match for the week will see Robe Roosters face Millicent/Beachport.
Robe will be full of confidence after their impressive win on the weekend and will look for a win to secure second spot.
